COMMERCE, Ga. (May 5) – After running so strong a week ago in winning the Houston race, GEICO/Lucas Oil dragster driver Morgan Lucas is having a tough go of it so far at the 32nd annual Summit NHRA Southern Nationals. Lucas didn't complete a full pass during qualifying at Atlanta Dragway, though he did enough to earn the No. 13 position heading into race day. "We've had a lot of weird things happen in qualifying this weekend," Lucas said. "We're still ironing out some kinks, but we're not worried. The run in Q3 was looking really strong until it dropped a valve. That might've changed the whole outlook of qualifying, because it probably would've put is in the top half of the field. "From where I'm coming from, I feel like we've still got as good a race car as anybody. We've just got to make sure everything's perfect in the first round." Lucas' best pass was 3.903 seconds at 280.08 mph in Q3, but he slowed nearing the finish line with the valve problem. That wasn't the oddest thing that happened, though. "We had a blower fall off for no apparent reason," Lucas said. "The car dropped a cylinder at the step for no reason that we can put a finger on. Just weird stuff. Maybe it’s the full moon? We'll work at it and just keep moving forward." A two-time winner in 2012, Lucas has confidence the GEICO/Lucas Oil dragster will be strong on race day as crew chief Aaron Brooks tweaks the tune-up. "You're going to have bad weekends, but the bottom line is the weekend's not over," Lucas said. "You've got to be in it to win it. Race day is always exciting. You never know what could happen." Lucas faces Spencer Massey in the first round. Massey qualified No. 4 with a top lap of 3.903 seconds at 320.13 mph. Top Fuel eliminations begin at 11 a.m. EDT. ESPN2 is carrying all the action with same-day coverage. From: Rob Geiger
